Tucson Fireball

I live North of Tucson Arizona and Tuesday night I was sitting on the couch when suddenly it looked as though there was a car shinning its head lights
through the windows facing the back yard, But there is no road there just dessert. Then there was a loud explosion that shook the windows. I didn't
realize untill this afternoon what it was when started looking at the space news website that I look at daily that there was a large meteor that
exploded basically right over my house. When I went out side on the patio I realized that all the ash in the ash catcher from the grill had been blow
towards the house. So tomorrow Im going to buy some magnets and start looking for meteors in my back yard and then this weekend Im going to go
meteorite hunting in the desert which also coincides with the peak of the Geminids that can reach 130-140 per hour. If there are any fellow Tuscon
ATSers out there with an interest in astronomy it should be a good time. But this is a conspiracy website so heres a video questioning if it was a UFO

Maybe the first visible pieces falling to earth from the last remnants of comet ISON?

Probably not ISON was not supposed to cross earths orbital plan until late december and even then its trajectory took it far north of the ecliptic.
Most likely it was associated with the Andromanids Meteor shower.

On December 8, 2013, Meteor specialist Peter Brown reported that the Canadian Meteor Orbit Radar had recorded an outburst from the Andromedid meteors
in the past 24 hours.

Of course, I was inside (it's cold for this region lately)... didn't hear anything in downtown Tucson area and the first I've heard of it... so
thanks for posting.

Once saw a quick meteor storm from Mt. Lemmon that looked like the "hyper-space" effect from sci-fi... and a daylight bolide south to north break
apart burning blue/green and red in the 80's... heard the booms from last spring that were guessed to be military or meteoric.

Why does AZ get so many space rocks thrown at it?

Either way, these larger fireballs are more common in the last year or so. Neat...

Wow your lucky Ive only been up to Mt. Lemon during the night but I watched the Draconids from my back yard here in Oro Valley it it was pretty
amazing. I just recently moved here from Chicago so the sky here is just amazing to me. Also there is another meteor storm that may possible occur in
May 2014 maybe I should make a night time trip up to Mt Lemon for that one.

There have been so many fireball sightings this year, it's almost unbelievable. I've been following this for a while (Thanks to Clyde Lewis), and
it is at least a weekly occurrence that a large fireball is seen. A bunch of green ones. Given what happened in Chelyabinsk earlier this year, its
something I'm a little concerned about.

Ok so I found something in my back yard I don't know if it is a meteorite but it is magnetic with one almost smooth but wavy side and the rest are
fractured. Im open to and Ideas of how to test this, This is a new thing to me. Also It was the only thing that jumped up to the magnet that I held
about an inch off the ground and I covered a pretty big area of my yard.

Let me know what you guys think. If any one can recognize it as some terrestrial rock let me know please.

Wow the chances of you getting hit by a meteorite are like 7 million to 1 so that kid is lucky well he's unlucky but yeah he's lucky to be alive if
the fragments were any bigger they would have probably killed him.

Yup, my vote is it's a meteorite. Neat. I doubt it's from the same one but who knows... from your description of the shock wave, it may well be.

I only saw a fuzzy cam image from Spwy and Alvernon so couldn't make an educated guess as to it's trajectory and where it broke up.

I'm a Chicago transplant too, but that was when I was a kid, so I'm almost a native... you should've seen the night sky in those earlier years as
people told me that the 70's and 80's were when it got "so much light pollution." It still beats back east, though, for sky watching.

Welcome to the desert and it's weirdness. Oh, by the way, we have another poster who saw what sounds like a pterodactyl right near Pusch Ridge...
heh.

Wow Yeah I live in Oro Valley Pusch Ridge dominates the view out my front _ I've been looking at the ridge line with my telescope some really
amazing rock strata but no Pterodactels. Ive been some big birds like but I don't know abut anything that size. BTW Geminids Peak tonight midnight
till 4am is the best viewing time the later the better as the moon will be lower and lower up to 140 per hour!!!!

Had to say, as there are scores of meteor hunters in your area looking for what you possibly found, those pieces are worth something... up to
thousands per gram, usually hundred bucks per gm or so for collectors and study.

Heres what I got. Just north of Tucson I observed 1:00 AM - 2:00 AM 49 meteors, 3:30 AM - 4:30 AM 50 meteors, 4:30 AM - 5:30 AM 65 meteors. My total
was 220 but thats including the first couple hours when I was going in and out of the house and a little bit after 5:30 when I just didn't want to go
inside because I didn't want them to be over. I used a counter app I downloaded on my phone that worked really well you just press the volume up
button on you phone so you don't have to look away from the sky. I must say I probably saw more meteors last night than I have in my whole life. It
was almost magical. I also saw the moon set for the first time and a satellite. It was a great night and I can't wait for next year. Also I wouldn't
sell this thing for a million dollars well maybe a million but if it is a meteorite its the first one I ever found it has way more sentimental value.
Glad you got to enjoy the show too.

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